Frostborn
by Timetrixter22
Summary: Jack Frost awoke from a block of ice near the village of Burgess. Alone, with white hair, blue eyes, and a command over frost and snow, Jack lives in peaceful cohabitation with the villagers. But when a dark entity takes two of the children while he is on a trip, Jack will stop at nothing to get them back, including relying on some very strange new friends, T for certain creatures.
1. The Autarch Arises

Frostborn

Disclaimer: As you can tell, this is a disclaimer, I'll leave it to you to figure out what that means.

Brief A/N: This story will likely be filled with Anachronism Stew. This is because, A: It's set in an alternate universe, so I can say that the answer is magic, or really smart people, and B: do you know how difficult it is to write in _ye olden days_ speak, **really hard.** I'm not Tolkien, or Lewis, or Martin (my gods I am definitely not them). So now, without further ado, on with the fic.

_RoTG_

On a moonless night, in the town of Burgess, the sound of carriage wheels rang out. Slowly, as if rising from the darkness itself, a black coach appeared on the sole road into town. Like a shadow, it crept through the streets, the sound of its wheels audible only to children; very special children. As it entered the market square, its wheels emitted one last tremulous echo before falling silent, then it waited. Before long, the pitter-patter of young feet entered the square. Two children, one about the age of eight, and the other much younger. The elder had shortly cut brown hair, while the younger was possessed of wild scraggly blonde locks. The younger, a girl, grasped her brothers hand. Together the two approached the carriage with equal parts caution and curiosity. Nearing the other side of the carriage, they found a hunched figure in a dark cloak, sitting next to a fire. Strangely though, there had been no sign of a fire of any kind from the other side of the coach. "Hello children" the figure said, finally looking up. The man had dark hair, and his skin had a gray pallor to it, his eyes though, were the most captivating aspect of his face. They shimmered in the firelight, the deep gold mirroring the red and orange of the sparks.

"W-who are you" the boy asked. The man smiled, his teeth glinting in the amber glow, "I am merely a humble story teller" the man answered, "would you like to hear one of my tales?" "Story" the girl said, fear forgotten and a smile over taking her face. "I don't know Soph, isn't it kind of late" The boy said, giving the man a distrustful glance. "Story" Sophie said firmly; "but you don't even have any shoes on and-" "story" Sophie said again, giving her brother a look somewhere between a glare and a pout.

"Humor her" the man said, grinning at the pair, "I promise it wont take long at all." "But don't you need to be paid?" Jamie asked. The man chuckled lightly, his voice filled with dark bemusement "Oh I could never accept payment from children." Sophie tugged on her brothers shirt, giving him another pout glare. "Jamie story" she said, eyes watering. "Fine" the boy sighed.

"Excellent" the man said, "now gather around children." The two huddled around the fire, which, Jamie dimly noticed, was rapidly dying. Actually, all the lights in the village seemed to be dimming, even the lights in the lamp posts, and the candles in the windows. As the shadows crept in and surrounded the group, Sophie shivered against her brother, and seemed far less eager to be out in the dark. "I'll make this story as quick as possible" the man said. "Now listen very closely, this is a tale of a creature of darkest night, and blackest shadow. A being so dark and horrendous, even the shadows shied away before it took them in hand". Sophie clutched at her brother, burying her face in his shirt and peeking out with one eye. Jamie himself was shivering, and looking out into the sudden darkness warily. "Now, our story begins."

There was only a ten foot circle of light now.

The shadows crept further. Five feet now.

They inched along the ground in opaque tendrils, eating away at the light. Three feet.

They were so close now, soaking up what remained of the fire light, leaving obsidian darkness to replace it. The smallest circle now, just encompassing the group and nothing else. All was dark but the halo of light . "Are you ready children?" the man asked, his voice filled with something dark and twisted.

"Once upon a time" he began, and the last of the firelight died to choking embers, the fear filled eyes of the two glinting with tears and the faintest red, as if they were grasping at the only light left, trying to stave off total oblivion. A guttural growl echoed from the black ocean the night had become. As the last dying embers flickered out, the shadows surged in as the end of the mans tale rang out.

"There was _me_._"_

Screams filled the night, and a laugh of darkest deed accompanied them.

Parents and children alike rushed out of their houses, stirred from restful dreams. As townsfolk entered the now empty square, they were met with yet another scream, this one a plaintive, mournful cry. A man and woman rushed out a house, the Bennett's. "Jamie, Sophie!" The woman cried, her husband echoing her. The woman's cries continued for what seemed like an eternity, to no avail, the children were gone.

The men gathered a search party and entered the woods, dogs baying at the moonless sky. All the while, no one noticed the carriage tracks.

Because there weren't any there.

* * *

_Dark. . ._

_Cold. . ._

_Alone. . ._

Crack.

Beneath the shine of a full moon, a large chunk of ice, dislodged from it's resting place higher up the mountain by a snow storm, broke, and from it, spilled light. It poured out in an unstoppable stream, shooting up into the the aether. Soon however, the light came back, spiraling down and mixing with the silvery gleam of the moons radiant glow. The light changed, became cold, but pure, and settled back into the ice.

Slowly, the ice began to melt, water trickling down the sides in small rivulets. As more and more of the ice thawed, a shape became apparent. Eventually one could make out a distinct form, a young boy, no older than seventeen. The boy was clothed in a brown short cloak, a white shirt, and brown pants with some kind of light brown chord wrapped around the bottoms, and looked for all the world to be sleeping. More and more of the ice melted, until only the thinnest of layers separated the boys skin from the moonlight. Beneath the last of the ice however, a change began to take place. His hair, previously a shade of brown, began to lighten, and his skin seemed to grow white beneath it's frosty blanket. When the last of the ice melted, the boys form slumped into the snow, his hair now white as the powder on which it lay, and his skin almost as pale.

After a moment, the boy's form stirred. First it was a twitch in his hand, then his leg stretched. With a groan the boy sat up, limbs uncoiling. Opening bleary eyes that had not seen moonlight for ten years, the boy looked around. As he did so, though he did not know it, the last remnant's of brown fled from his eyes, being replaced with a cool blue. Standing, the boy took stock of his surroundings, and realized something. He could remember many things, he knew how to read, and write, how to do math, and how to wield a staff, though he didn't currently have one; one thing he didn't remember though, was himself. His memory of everything that had happened to him; his entire life, was blank. Even as fear ran through his form however, the boy heard something.

It couldn't be described as a voice, or even a whisper; it was more like a half forgotten thought, the memory of a fading dream, the sound of a snowflake falling. Stranger still, he couldn't seem to tell which direction the noise was coming from, almost as if it were in his head. It was light, it was practically none existent, but it was important.

_You are. . . Jack Frost_

Then, just like that, the impossible noise was gone, but at least the boy had a name now.

"I am. . . Jack" he said to himself tentatively, then "I'm Jack" a bit more confidently, and finally "I'm Jack, Jack Frost." Smiling to himself, Jack looked toward the moon, somehow knowing that the message had come from it.

"So, what do I do now?" Jack wondered aloud, though he received no answer. In the distance, Jack noticed a faint collection of lights, which he assumed was a village. "Well" he said, "I might as well get going", without another word, Jack set off the the shimmering lights in the distance, feet flying and frost chasing at his heels.

* * *

Frost curled under Jacks feet as he made his way through the forest. His pale bare feet made no sound as they descended on the snow, and they left no footprint. The bare tree's were absent of their usual cries, as the animals were all either asleep or had already fled from winter's tight embrace. Whistling a tuneless song, Jack continued along his meandering path, fingers tracing lightly along any nearby bark. Though he appeared young, Jack in actuality had no idea how old he was. He had the same appearance now as he did ten years ago when he first woke from the ice.

Currently, Jack was on his way back to the village of Burgess, a bundle slung over his shoulder. Inside the bundle were a number of things he had bought, haggled for, found, or _borrowed_, and all of them were for two very special children. Generally the people of Burgess didn't mind Jack's presence, though they weren't comfortable with him being near their children. To them he was merely "The Frost Boy" a creature that caused no harm, but one that should generally be left alone. Just because Jack was harmless didn't mean that being associated with him wasn't dangerous after all, at least that's what they believed. However, one couple didn't mind Jack, and in fact _encouraged_ their children to play with him, the Bennett's.

They had seen Jack's caring nature, and his ability to bring smiles to the children's faces, and viewed him as a benevolent spirit. Additionally, their children would be much safer in the woods with a winter spirit than they would be with almost anyone else, especially as Burgess was caught in the realm of the Winter Dell, and as such, was perpetually in a state of ice and snow; and therefore, Jack would always be strong. No wolf would be able to match his power, whether normal or supernatural, though they themselves had never actually seen Jack in a fight.

Nearing the village, Jack felt as if something was off, and his quiet tune died off. There was something wrong, he sensed, something not quite right; the very snow beneath his feet felt _different_. Nudging the white flakes with his toes, Jack discovered something very peculiar. Beneath the fresh coat of crystalline ice there was a different snow. No more than a day old, Jack realized what was wrong the moment he got a look at it. Unlike the pure white of freshly fallen snow, or the dirty shade snow got when mixed with mud, this layer of snow, was _**black**_. While it wasn't everywhere, it was still obvious that _something_ had tainted this snow. Bits of black, like tiny dark shards, were imbedded in the white, like small, malignant tumors.

The faint echo of a cry reached Jack's ears, and without another seconds hesitation, he shot off, feet gliding on the ice, speeding toward the village in a fury of ice and snow.

* * *

When Jack reached the town, he immediately set off for the square, sure that that was where the cry had originated. When he arrived, he found the square full of people. One by one, they noticed him, and stepped aside, allowing him through to the center. The looks on their faces varied from shock, to hope, to disgust. At the center of the group sat a familiar, crying woman, her face buried in her hands, and another woman at her shoulders, enfolding her in a hug.

It took Jack a few seconds to reconcile the sobbing form before him, with the cheerful one he had come to know, but after looking at the woman for a bit, he realized that yes, it _was_ Mrs. Bennett. The other woman looked at Jack with sad eyes, before glancing back down to Mrs. Bennett. Shaking her shoulders, the woman got Mrs. Bennett to look up, where, upon seeing Jack, she gasped.

"J-Jack" she managed to get in between sobs.

"What is it Mrs. Bennett?" Jack asked; judging from her current state, he had a good idea, though he hoped he was wrong.

"It's the children, Jamie and Sophie" the silence was absolute, and not a sound was made, save for her continued gasps.

"They're gone."

* * *

Jack could have spent hours searching for the children as the members of the village had, but he knew it would do no good. Even without the black snow, he could tell that whatever had taken the children was not human. Unlike the others, he had a sense for the supernatural, being a part of it himself, and he could feel the disturbance in the air itself, something was definitely wrong. He could also tell, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the kids were no longer within the vicinity of the village. There was an emptiness to the chilled air, a hollowness not present previously. It was this more so than the snow that told him the children were gone.

Jack skated over the ground like a flash of white lightning, breath puffing out of the sides of his mouth, though it made no appearance in the air. He had been traveling for half an hour now, and though he had no need for sleep, he did require rest every once in a while. Burgess had long receded into the trees, and the road ahead appeared treacherous and endless. Though it was only noon, the sky overhead was gray as gunmetal, and the sun was already three thirds across the sky. Night came quickly to those who lived within the Winter Dell. On some days the effect was so startling that those who lived near the boundary line could cross from near total darkness to a clear spring day, or into the brisk breeze of the Valley of Voices depending on which side you lived on. As he slid across the icy ground, Jack mulled several ideas over in his head. Jamie and Sophie were taken from the town by a creature that left darkness in its wake, but no tracks.

The Winter dell was home to many magical entities, a multitude of which could fly, but if it was one of them, then there would be no black snow. The snow itself presented another problem. While members of the Dell's residency were far from harmless, and a few of them were deliberately malicious, as Jack had discovered through first hand experience, those that would enter the village weren't exactly numerous. More to the point those who _could_ enter the village with evil intent were a scarcity, even more so since Jack's arrival. Burgess was situated in one of the naturally occurring safe zones of the Dell. Places like that were resistant to entities of maleficence. Then there were the Burgess Bells; crafted decades ago by an unknown forger, the bells were naturally unpleasant for dark creatures, and when rung, which they were every night, the detrimental effects on evil they had lasted for a full day. With these types of protection encircling the village, the number of creatures that would and could approach the village, with enough sentience to take the children could be counted on two hands. Of those, none of them left markings like the kind Jack had found. It could only mean one thing. "Something came into the Dell" he murmured aloud "something new, something strong, and something smart."

If a creature like that came into the Dell and immediately went for it's largest village, there was little reason to assume that it would remain inside its boundaries or even that it still was; which presented a complication for Jack. While not bound like the other more powerful entities of the Dell, for whatever reason, to one specific place, or even the Dell as a whole, Jack was not as strong outside of its sphere of influence. His powers relied more on manipulation of preexisting snow and frost rather than creation. While he could produce the energy required to create the snow, it taxed him greatly. There was only one town left before Jack exited the Dell, and though the growing disturbance in the air told him he was getting closer to the creature, or at least that he was picking up a solid trail, he had to assume if he didn't catch the creature now, it would move out of the Dell and be beyond his abilities to defeat.

"Alright" Jack said to the perpetual winter air "Get ready Santoff Claussen, you're about to get frostbite."

* * *

A/N: Alrighty then, that's almost three thousand words for chapter one, not bad, especially compared to my _other_ stories. I _was_ going to wait until around five thousand words before uploading this, but I thought I'd leave it at a nice cliffhanger, Besides now I can spend more time on Jack meeting North.

Until next time, which will be (hopefully) soon, later.


	2. A Simple Misunderstanding

Frostborn

Disclaimer: As you can tell, this is a disclaimer, I'll leave it to you to figure out what that means.

___RoTG_

_Jingle. . . Jingle. . . Jingle_

To most people, the ringing of bells is a joyous and melodious sound.

To the dark creatures of the Winter Dell, it was utterly terrifying. For these bells belonged to an old looking man, who had been old looking for a very long time. A large, scarlet sleigh, pulled by a lone reindeer, glided near silently through dim, fading daylight, only the tinkling of the bells belying it's presence. The white-bearded man who rode in it was just as grand as the sleigh itself. Clad in a black and crimson coat, a dark circular hat encompassing his head, the man, known to the members of the town simply as Mr. North, cut a striking figure. If one didn't know any better, one might say this man was a bandit, yet his air was one of royalty; he was neither.

This man was, against all appearances, a toymaker, and a very good one at that; quite possibly the best in the world. In the village of Santoff Claussen, Mr. North was viewed as the kind, if eccentric wood carver; who every year, near the end of December, gave every child in the village a gift. Usually these gifts were rather bizarre, as they took the form of things the villagers had never heard of. Sometimes they were of exotic animals, others strange contraptions they had no names for, but that Mr. North promised would someday be everywhere. The villagers would merely shrug and laugh, and shake their heads, but secretly they believed; because a lot of odd things happened around Mr. North, and much of what he said came true.

For example, they often said that Mr. North's toys didn't just look strange, they _did_ strange things as well. On certain nights, when the adults were all asleep, and the children were fighting to stay awake in the wee hours; when the dark seemed to crouch in, and noises were heard, they would _move_. Figurines would dance, things called lions would silently hunt through the night. Always the children would sleep when they saw them, and when they woke, they would be still once more, and their unease settled.

Occasionally, the town would commission the old man to work on something for them, a statue, or plaque. They would offer him wood to use, the best they could find, but Mr. North would just smile, and shake his head, and then he would hitch up his sleigh with help from a man named Phil, lock his shop, and he would ride out. He might be gone for days, or weeks, but whenever the deadline approached Mr. North would come back in his bright red sleigh without a trace of wood. The next morning, no matter how early they awoke, the town members would find the carving in place, and Mr. North's shop open once more. No one could place the strange wood's Mr. North used, and when questioned, he would merely reply, in that strange accent of his "they are very special wood, from very far away" and that would end the matter.

No one in the town questioned that Mr. North had traveled "Mr. North has been places" they'd say "Mr. North has seen things" but no one knew how much. They would occasionally try to guess his age, but whenever pressed he would merely answer with a grin and a chuckle "old." Whatever the history behind the peculiar man, the townspeople had come to regard him with affection. Though he was a very nice old man, Mr. North was obviously very busy, and so it came as a shock to few when he took on an apprentice; though they were surprised with his choice. North had taken in a young boy by the name of Tobias, though most knew him as Toby.

The boy was nice, but was rather spotty, and always seemed to be off in his own world; which most believed was caused by the death of his parents; for what other way could kind Mr. North have come across the child. Whatever the case may be, the young boy with an affinity for red and green was often seen bumping into objects or making a mess. It had become so much of an issue that North had made the small boy a hat with a bell attached to it. The constant jingle seemed to please the ditzy child, and gave him a bit more clarity. North taught Toby everything he knew, from carving, which he thankfully had a knack for, to that which was truly important, where his talent really shone through, _magic._

Oh the townspeople thought Mr. North was odd certainly, but they would never have guessed that he was a Magician. The old man schooled the young child in arts arcane, and in the meantime continued carving for the town; but all that was about to change. North had left Toby at the shop while he had gone out to gather some special wood. The trip would normally have taken only a few hours at most, as the particular tree he needed was rather close comparatively, and the enchantments needed simple, if a bit long.

However, North had run into problems in the form of a pack of Dire wolves. Not seeking to hurt the creatures North had instead opted to subdue them with a simple spell. Catching them all had been tedious, and had added a few minutes to his trip, but North hadn't seen it as too big a deal; he would come to regret that decision soon after, for that delay would give a despicable creature the time it needed, and allow it to evade North.

When the Sigils carved all over town were overloaded, and his connection to a protective amulet Toby wore broke, North doubled his pace, but just missed the black carriage. North missed him by minutes, arriving just in time to miss seeing the coach fade into a patch wreathing shadows . . . and to come face to face with a certain frost spirit. With a mind clouded in a worry that only a parent could understand, North dismounted the sleigh and approached the strange creature with a smile on his face; then, he attacked.

* * *

Jack felt a spike of nausea wash over him as he came to a sudden halt in front of the entrance to Santoff Claussen There was nothing of particular interest in sight, and the only sound in the air was that of the wind, wait, no, there was something else, something almost. . . _musical_? What was it? He wondered; it sounded so familiar, and then he realized what it was, bells. Jack turned, and was greeted with the sight of a large red sleigh, and in it a large, imposing man. Though he appeared old, Jack knew from experience that looks could be deceiving. He could feel no particular ill will from the figure, but that didn't mean much, glamors could be powerful things, and this old looking man was definitely magical. The man exited his sleigh, and seemed to approach jovially, until, with a sudden lunge that almost took Jack's head off, he attacked with a previously unseen saber.

Jumping backwards, Jack weaved away from the rapid swipes of the man. Despite his apparent age, he was incredibly fast, and from the grace that he executed his attacks, Jack could tell he was a master at this particular form of combat. As he danced away from the attacks with an agility that few possessed, Jack willed a cloud of the falling flakes into the mans eyes, blinding him for a few precious seconds. Gaining distance Jack tilted his left hand palm upwards and flexed his fingers. Snowflakes rose from the ground and drifted towards his hand from the air into a tightly compacted ball of ice. With unerring accuracy, the ball shot towards the man, whose eye's cleared just in tome to dodge the ball with a speed belying his size.

North glared at the pale boy a with a grim smile told him "It will take more than a few ice-balls to beat me spirit" Jack, despite the circumstances, grinned. With a mocking bow, Jack brought his arms out and held them as he had previously. This time, the snow whirled faster, swirling and compacting into into numerous floating orbs. Once more, the spheres shot towards North, but this time he was ready. A second blade joined the first, and they slashed down the balls, reducing them once more into powder. North charged, red energy lighting up his swords bladed edges. Jack retreated once more, staying out of Norths range by sliding backwards on a thin trail of frost. As North put on a burst of speed, Jack brought both of his arms forward in a thrust, sending a wave of snow towards him. North crossed his swords into a glowing X on which the snow hissed and melted instantly upon contact.

Bringing his own powers into play, North stabbed one of his swords into the ground and sent out a green orb surrounded in a snapping yellow mesh. Jack whirled the snow into a tight wall in front of him, which was blasted apart by the orb, though it managed to shield him from the damage. Another orb smashed into the ground at Jack's feet, sending the winter spirit flying backwards into the snow. North approached warily, but jumped back when tendrils of snow started to wrap around his boots. Jack sat up, anger in his eyes; slowly, the snow stopped falling, the flakes hanging in mid air and rising from the ground. As one they began to spin, the air humming with inaudible noise. With a single push, Jack sent the cloud hurtling at North, who swung his coat around him. The innumerable projectiles shattered against the coat, but they bought Jack the time he needed.

Standing, Jack closed his eyes and concentrated. Extending his right hand, Jack cast his magic about, gathering the snow, but in a much slower manner this time. _Focus, feel where everything connects, find the slots, and fill them, press it together_. Slowly, as North defended himself from the last of the snowflakes, a shape took form. At first, it was just a rod that Jack gripped tightly in his right hand, then as more snow added on, it began to grow. When he felt the barrage stop, North risked a glance about, and founded the creature holding a three foot ice white stick. Even as North watched, the item continued to grow, extending to four, and then five feet, topping off a little over six feet, with a strange curve reminiscent of a G. As the last snowflake settled into place, Jack opened his eyes and grinned.

"A weapon that is pretty won't be helping you to defeat me, spirit" North accused, reverting to a broken form of English as he pointed his sword at Jack. "It's not just pretty old man", Jack shot back. North merely stabbed his other sword into the ground and reached into his coat. North grinned at Jack, who looked cautiously at the mans hands as they came back out. North placed three small objects on the ice covered ground, and stood, still grinning. Jack peered closely at the items, which he realized were animal carvings, the largest of which was a horse, and two smaller ones what appeared to be wolves or dogs. "Alright, spirit, it is time for you to see what a real magician can do." With a snap of his fingers, the objects animated. A tiny neigh came from the horse, and miniature howls could be heard coming from the wolves.

Jack cocked an eyebrow and leaned against his ice staff "Is that it, it's gonna take more than some animate toys to beat me gramps, what, are you running out of ideas?" North chuckled before he began to mumble. Before Jacks eyes, the toys began to change; first the horse, then the wolves began to grow. Before it had reached its crescendo, the wolves howl had become a lot more threatening. Jack glanced at the now larger than life sized wooden wolves and gulped. "So, spirit" North asked, "do you think your pretty weapon can save you now?"

Jack grinned at North, and brought his left hand out once more, forming another ball of ice. this time however, the ball shimmered, and a thin blue layer coated it. Jack pulled his arm back, pushed forward with all his might. . . and went shooting backwards towards the woods. As the ice ball thunked into the ground, North looked shocked for a few seconds before, with a bellow, he hopped onto his now large horse and sent the wolves after the retreating spirit. The horse neighed once more and took off after the wolves.

Jack threw up a thin wall of snow behind him when he entered the forest, which the wolves tore through like paper. As he skated along the snowy ground, he left a trail of ice in his wake, attempting to stymie their progress, to no avail as their wooden claws dog into the thin layer and crunched it to pieces. The wolves were within a few feet of Jack, North not far behind, when the pale boy rose into the air. Lifting himself on an impossibly thin layer of snow, Jack grinded on the snow, now several yards above the wolves snapping jaws.

Apparently, however, he wasn't high enough, as a blast courtesy of North smashed into his snowline and sent him sprawling to the forest floor. Jack rolled with the tumble, coming up in a hunched position just in time to send a wave of snow into his lupine pursuers. The wolves managed to shake off most of the snow, but Jack managed to stick a medium layer to their bodies. With a flip Jack landed on the flank of one of the wolves, which was nearly blasted to pieces by a shot from an approaching North. The other wolf made to strike at Jack, but the young spirit managed to dive out of the way. As the two beasts disentangled themselves, Jack manipulated the snow around them into a firmer layer of ice. While the wolves managed to find purchase, they did have to scramble for a bit, giving Jack the time needed to construct something once more. With quick, hurried movements, Jack traced a shape on the ice mirror he had formed and subsequently frosted over. When he was done, Jack reached for the stranger parts of his magic, and pulled the image out.

When North entered the small clearing, he smashed the ice that was hindering his wolves, who eagerly resumed the hunt. Now following behind his wolves, North searched for the frost spirit. Through the trees ahead, he spotted a flash of white, which the wolves, now free of their snow coat, darted after. The beasts led North into a clearing, where his opponent stood nonchalantly. North glanced around warily, something wasn't right. Even as the wolves moved to pin the spirit, North realized what was wrong. "The staff, it's gone, and is he glowing?" he murmured aloud as the wolves leaped. As they crashed down on the grinning spirit, Jacks form broke apart, and the wolves smashed into each other. From the treetops, a pale figure struck down.

Slapping his hands down on the backs of the beasts, Jack pushed some of his magic into them before propelling himself into a front flip and landing on their heads. The wolves growled and North looked at the boy quizzically. "Do you know what happens when woods freezes." North smirked, "as a matter of facts, I do, but my creations have no water in them." Jack grinned, before holding out his hand, which his staff, hidden behind a tree, shot into. Beneath him, the wolves slowed, and eventually stopped moving at all "so I figured, that's why I gave them some." North looked at his still creations with a befuddled expression which soon cleared "snow coat" he said simply.

"Yep" Jack said, "all I had to do was wait long enough for the ice to melt and sink into these two" he said tapping the two "and then freeze it." Jack hopped off of the creatures and took a fighting stance "They're limbs are completely frozen."

"Ah, yes that is very clever" North said smiling, before he grew serious once more. Dismounting the horse, North redrew his swords. "Enough games, where is Toby" he glared at the spirit. "Toby?" Jack said as he circled the large man "I, don't know who that is, I'm just trying to find Jamie and Sophie." "who?" North questioned. "Small kids, ones a brunette, ones blonde, both under _my_ protection" Jack said before he stopped moving. Shaking his head, Jack sighed, "you have no idea who I'm talking about, do you?" North shrugged before he letting the red glow of his swords die down. "I am guessing you have no idea who Toby is either, is that correct?" Jack nodded, losing his battle stance entirely. "I am thinking I might have over reacted" North said sheepishly." "You think" Jack said dryly, before shaking his head again, "I don't have time for this, whatever took Jamie and Sophie is probably already gone, and I needed to get going before I lose the trail entirely."

Jack turned to leave, and was about to skate away when "Wait" North said, "I am having an idea" Jack turned to look at the strange and deadly man. "I'm am thinking, that whatever it is that took your Jamie and Sophie is the same thing that took Tobias." "Yeah?" "Well, if the same thing took them, then why don't we work together to get them back?" Jack thought about it. On the one hand, he wasn't sure if he could trust this strange man, and on the other, he wasn't sure if he could take on this creature on his own. Seeing the frost spirit wavering North continued "I am also thinking that you are Winter creature, yes?" Jack nodded. "Well then, if the creature moves out of the Dell, how effective will you be hmm?"

Jack had forgotten that little tidbit, and if the creature was strong enough to enter Burgess, then he probably wouldn't stand much of a chance against it outside of Winter Dell. North took the final plunge in his argument "Plus" he add hesitantly "I might not be able to take it on on my own, it managed to overload _all_ of the protective Sigils it passed, and they're quite literally _everywhere_."

Despite his misgivings, Jack made his choice. "Alright fine" he said, which caused North to chuckle excitedly, "Wonderful" he said, "but I'm am needing your name, I cant just keep calling you spirit." "Yeah I suppose I can't keep calling you gramps either, at least not all the time." North stuck out his hand "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Nicholas St. North, but my friends just call me North" Jack took the offered hand with a grin "I'm Jack, Jack Frost."

"Well Jack" North said, "can I kindly ask you to defrost my wolves, we might need them" "Oh right" Jack said, moving over to and tapping the wolves. The ice inside the creatures melt instantly, and the water was quickly drawn out by Jack. With a few seemingly nonsensical words, a wave, and a quick remounting, Jack and North were heading back to the village.

* * *

During the brief journey back, after North sent a small wooden bird flying back toward the village, Jack explained everything that had lead him to Santoff Claussen, which wasn't much. When he told North about the black snow however, the man gained an intense look. "Black snow you say?" North asked, to which Jack nodded "Hmm, this is very bad" "Why?" Jack questioned. "There are a few different creatures that leave shadows where they tread, but not many would come here, fewer still have any significant attachment to children, and for them to overload my Sigils" North sighed, "it does not bode well."

"So what do you think it is?" Jack asked as he and a freshly dismounted North approached a small house with a large pen in the back and a sizable stable sitting next to it. "Something that should have died along time ago" he said ominously before sighing "I will explain on way." "OK, great, but why are we _here,_ shouldn't we get going, before we lose the trail?" "Yes, but first we have to get ride." "What ride?" Jack wondered, "I thought we were going in your sleigh?" "we are" North said smiling, "but isn't your sleigh back there?" "Ah, you think _that _is the sleigh we will be taking?" North chuckled, "No no" North opened the door of the stable. Inside, a man dressed in brown and gray furs finished the last hitch on a sleigh. Norths other sleigh was good for short trips, but _this one _was much better.

This one was far larger, capable of seating atleast ten people, and the entire thing seemed to glow. Made of a wood most people didn't even know existed, it would take something the equivalent of a rhino horn to put a scratch on the thing. Attached to the back of it was a wooden box, that looked just big enough for two people to squeeze into, though oddly enough, there were several small windows set into the sides of it at various heights. At the front of the cherry red sleigh were eight stamping reindeer, who were soon joined by the one that had pulled North's other sleigh "This is the sleigh we will be taking" North said, grinning at Jack's look of excitement.

Jack hopped up onto the sleigh, and North soon joined him. Turning to the man in furs, North thanked him. "Hopefully, I'll be back before too long Phil, if not, you know what to do." The other man nodded, his large mustache flopping, "Also if you wouldn't mind, could you lock my shop up?" Phil nodded once more. North thanked him once again, and with a snap of the reins, the duo were off. As the snow covered landscape blurred around them, Jack turned to North, "OK, I'll admit, the sleigh's pretty cool." North chuckled "everyone loves the sleigh."

Then the duo rode out into the night, and towards the boundary line.

Towards Pitch.


End file.
